Paradise Lost / My Dying Bride – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – 01.12.2023

Very special night this one, where we for the first time went to the O2 in Shepherd’s Bush to witness Paradise Lost’s 30^th anniversary of the release of ‘Icon’, where they would play it in its entirety supported by My Dying Bride. If they had added Anathema, we would have the Yorkshire triumvirate playing like in the early 90’s  (although I have no proof that they have ever played live together but at least they did in my stereo). This time besides me, my girlfriend Inês, and our friend Inês (no mistake here, they have both the same name), we had the company of Pedro and Joana, who came from Portugal to witness this historical night. First impression of this O2 wasn’t the best one as we did not get impressed with it, it seems small, especially when you have a sold-out house. To go to the toilet was an adventure, and I had to resign to see the last 2 songs from My Dying Bride in the stairs because we couldn’t move from there to the floor without someone else doing the opposite. Weird, so I did not become a fan of this place. But well, let’s go to the good things: the concerts!! First, we had our main reason to be there: My Dying Bride!! And man, what a beginning!! They opened with ‘The Thrash of Naked Limbs’ followed by ‘The Songless Bird’, both songs also commemorating thirty years of being released!! Followed by ‘Catherine Blake’, ‘Like Gods of the Sun’, and my favourite all time My Dying Bride song: ‘The Cry of Mankind’. The band was as tight as we could ask, everything played on the spot, and Aaron vocals were amazing, bringing back the more growled parts and not missing a note!! Fucking hell, it was awesome!! And they still played ‘She Is the Dark’, ‘Turn Loose the Swans’, which is a massive song when played live, and finished with ‘The Forever People’, which surprisedly enough, at least for me, brought again the mosh to the pit. Yes, there was a lot of mosh during My Dying Bride!! How weird is that???

After them came Paradise Lost, and we were again in the front, just close to the mosh pit, lovely, innit? As expected, they played ‘Icon’ in the exact order like it came out in 1993, opening with ‘Embers Fire’ (the best song from the album) and closing with ‘Christendom’ (which for what I’ve read was played live for the first time ever just like ‘Poison’ and ‘Weeping Words’). Just like My Dying Bride, they were tight as hell, with everyone having a lot of fun on performing this mythical album three decades later. Nick Holmes, spoke like I never seen him before, although with his Yorkshire accent, we had some trouble in following him ahaha!! Again, there was quite a bit of a mosh pit, which at some times was fun to see the moshers reacting to the slower parts ahah!! Priceless!! In the encore they played some even older stuff like ‘Pity the Sadness’ (from ‘Shades of God’) and newer stuff like ‘Ghosts’ from ‘Obsidian’. I’ve missed ‘As I Die’ but well maybe they are a bit tired of playing that one!! In the end, it was worth the while, the trip from North to West London, the price of the one beer I had (no cheap beer nowadays but with those toilets of hell I did not want to risk it), and the price of the ticket!! We ended the night at the Black Heart for some Lightbulbs, Heavy Metal and to mingle with some familiar faces!!! And another one bites the dust!!! We will be back!!!

Hulder/Groza/The Infernal Sea/Stahlsarg – Downstairs At The Dome, London – 30.11.2023

US band Hulder was performing in Europe for the first time, and we were lucky that Cult Of Parthenope arranged for them to come to London, specifically to the Downstairs at the Dome (previously known as Boston Music Room), on this cold autumn night!! Before they showed up, we had quite a nice line-up to see so me and Ines tried to leave the house at some decent hours!! And we made it just in time to see Stahlsarg going through their set!! We had the pleasure of seeing this Suffolk band a couple of years ago on an HRH Viking in Sheffield, so we knew we were up to a good start!! And they did not disappoint! With a new EP, ‘Suicide of God’, which came out in March of ’23 through Cult Never Dies, under their wings, the quintet started fast to unleash their fast Black Metal full of cut-throating frantic riffs and frenzied blasting!! But their music is not just that, as they also deliver some melancholic moments which slowdown things and give you time to breath. They have a very good stage presence with a lot of movement from one of their guitarists and a good pair of lungs in the vocalist. Black Metal with no bullshit!! Just what the doctor had recommended!! Because the next day I needed to be up really soon (around 7am) there were only a couple of pints being chugged and here it was a nice pale ale from Blue Moon to do the trick. Second band on stage was The Infernal Sea a band we had seen a couple of times, one of them opening for Primordial also in London. They have a new album, ‘Hellfenlic’ coming out in January, and I think they played some of the singles which have been coming out like ‘Lord Abhorrent’ or ‘Bastard of the East’. Their music has quite a dark atmosphere which results quite nicely in the live stage, especially with all the visual aids aka robes and masks. Tonight’s wasn’t different and they went through a good set which left people wanting for more. Another good example of the good health in the UK Black Metal scene. After them came the first of the debutants in UK lands, the Germans Groza!! I had read about them before this concert and heard a lot of Mgla comparisons, which for me is not a very bad thing, as I worship them, and after seeing them I can see/hear that comparison makes sense but vocal wise, I think Groza’s ones are somewhat different, as they use a grunter approach!! The German trio focused on their second album ‘The Redemptive End’ from 2021, opening with ‘Sunken in Styx’ (both parts) and continuing with ‘Elegance of Irony’, one of the best tracks from the album. A very emotive (and melancholic in some parts) moment was when they played ‘The Redemptive End’, which was dedicated to their fallen comrade M.S., which sadly passed away a couple of months ago. In the end it was 45 minutes, that didn’t feel too long, and a very good performance by these guys!!! To end the night, we had Hulder, a one-woman project which took the Underground by surprise, first with a couple of demos and then with its debut album, ‘Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry’, which came out in 2021. The band live multiplies into a quartet with Hulder taking care of guitar and vocals. Things started with an atmospheric intro, then the band started ripping out, and man, how surprise was I when she started to growl!! Not expecting that!! Music wise, they unleashed a whirlwind of buzzsaw riffs, chilling atmospheres, and some powerful drumming!! Through the 40-minutes that lasted their show, Hulder delivered a good set of Black Metal, with plenty of variation, and lots of headbanging moments. She isn’t very communicative towards the audience, but that’s pretty much a normal thing with Black Metal bands, so no disappointment there!! Overall, excellent set and I would recommend anyone into Black Metal to watch them, if they are able to!!! After a couple of more minutes, mingling with some familiar faces, we went home as the next day was an early rise one for me!!! See ya the next day!!

Beyond the Grave Festival – The Black Heart/The Underworld, London – 25.11.2023

 After a restful night, time for the second day of the festival which started really soon with Anakim, which I miss as I had some more family issues to take care of!! So, for me first band was at the Black Heart (today was divided between that venue and the Underworld, and must say it went really well with pretty much no clashes between bands) and when I got there Beyond Extinction, a young band from Essex was already unleashing their Deathcore like there was no tomorrow, pun intended!! I struggle quite a bit with this modern way of doing Death Metal so only lasted for a couple of songs and then went to the Underworld because in these festivals the secret is to start drinking when the band is starting and keep up the pace as you are not allowed to take drinks from venue to venue!! So, after my first Camden Pale Ale (those and Lightbulbs at the Black Heart were my go to beers through the day/night) time to see Basement Torture Killings, an habitue of the Death/Grind sessions in London!! I always get fascinated by Millie’s (BTK singer) presence in stage, sometimes it appears she is in some kind of a trance, and I love the dismemberment/autopsy of the Teddy bear (later in the evening I stepped on something hard, and it was its heart)!! They are a very tight band, with everything unleashed at a high speed but with no slack or sloppiness. Always good to watch them!! At the Black Heart it was time for Pathogenic Virulence, a Tech Slam Death all Romanian band based in London. They delivered songs from their debut album ‘Submerged Into Non-Existence’, and I think a couple of new ones, and they brought a bit of science fiction and biology to the fest on the lyrical concept. Full of complex fast riffs, their music is tight as hell and not for weak hearts. So, another trip to the Underworld and this time we had Repulsive Vision going on stage. These boys from Cumbria play the type of Death Metal that I’m a fan: the one where Thrash riffs are all over the place!! I had seen them a couple of times, but this was the first with their new vocals and must say Ryan has a nice pair of lungs, maybe not as brutal as Daryl but delivering a groovier performance which I even think suits a bit better Repulsive Vision’s music. They had a nice set which flowed quite well, with some interesting riffing and some damaging blasts!! As I stayed until the end (and because the next band in the Underworld was one, I really wanted to see) I only saw 1 or 2 songs from To Obey A Tyrant, a Deathcore act from Bournemouth. But as I said above, it’s not my beach as well so what I saw was okey!! The crowd seemed to be enjoying and that’s what you want!! Not everyone has to love the yellow!! So back to the Underworld and time for Seprevation, a band that people saw a lot in London but that disbanded pretty much when I arrived in London. After they have reunited, finally I had time to see them, and man was it worth the while!!  They returned with a new demo this year, which I think some of the songs were featured, and their Thrashy Death Metal was just what my ears needed!! Bang on songs, thick riffs, tight drumming, all you need to have a fun afternoon!! Death (the band) it’s what comes to my mind when I hear some of their stuff, especially the maniac solos!! Fucking brilliant and one of the highlights of the day, for me, of course!!! With my neck a bit sore, I went back to the Black Heart for a very special band: Symbtomy. Special because our good friend Dasa plays bass in it and because they play old school Death Metal, another of my top choices. They delivered songs from both their demos and the stench of rotten music was smelled many miles away!! At this time the house was already very full and maybe because Dasa is very well known and liked in the London Metal scene, a lot of people was there to witness her debut in the London stages with Symbtomy. Overall, I would say they delivered what was expected, they did not come to invent the wheel but what they did, it was done with feeling and attitude!! Mithras was the next band and these veterans of the UK Death Metal scene brought to London the most experimental set of the entire day. Their music can be better described as if Morbid Angel and Voivod went to bed and made a child!! It’s freaking weird, spatial, and technical, and you need to be in the right state of mind to properly enjoy it!! Unfortunately, I wasn’t and after 2 or 3 songs I tapped out and went to the back to enjoy a Pale Ale and chat a bit with some known faces!! From the Netherlands came Abrupt Demise, and they were the next guests in the Black Heart stage!!  Good, fast and relentless Death Metal is what these guys deliver, and it sounded quite good and a bit of a grind down after the beating in my brain given by Mithras. They came to present their debut album ‘The Pleasure to Kill and Grind’, which came out in 2020, and I would say they left with a couple of more fans. As for me, after a decent number of tunes headed to the Underworld for another Pale Ale (or was it Camden Hells? Not sure, the evening was long!!) and to watch the Italians Hour Of Penance, a band that I had the pleasure of seeing a couple of times back in Portugal. I always get impressed by their ferocity, and technicality in stage!! With more than two decades on their legs, these guys leave no prisoners behind with their top-notch riffing and brutal blast beats!! A lesson in musicality and a pain in the neck in the end, that was their present to all that witnessed their show. I was a bit tired in the end so didn’t have strength to go to the Black Heart to watch Visions of Disfigurement, so I just stayed in the Underworld chatting and waiting for Blood Red Throne!! The Norwegians are always a sign of good old Death Metal, and not always they have a new album almost out, ‘Nonagon’ is expected to come out in early 2024, but also, they were debuting, at least for me, new vocals. It was brutal, sweaty and a hell of a show. I’m pretty sure they played a song from the new album, but I can’t be sure as I never remember to write anything while the bands are playing!! The objective is to have a good time, right? And they kept everyone entertained for sure!! Then, time to finish the beer because on the other side there was Cryptworm to watch!! The Bristol band (which features, at least live, 2 guys from Seprevation in it) delivered the most obscure and dark Death Metal of the weekend!! When I entered the Black Heart, it was like some evil ritual was being performed in stage, with the deep ultra-low growls from Tibor reverberating in the walls of that tiny space. The riffing was putrid, the drumming was tight, and people were in trance being fustigated by Cryptworm’s music!! Fucking awesome!!! So good, that in the end of the night I caught up with Tibor in the merch table and bought their debut album ‘Spewing Mephitic Putridity’ from 2022 in vinyl!! And don’t fall asleep because this month they are releasing its follow up!!! Then a bit of a run to the Underworld because the last band going on stage was one of those, that you should not lose when they play in your area, country, or planet!! Benediction don’t need no introduction nor songs like ‘Vision in the Shroud’, ‘Unfound Mortality’, ‘The Grotesque’ or ‘Subconscious Terror’!! Making noise since 1989, these UK veterans did not let things cool down, and drenched the Underworld in sweat and energy. Dave Ingram is a beast on stage and the perfect master of ceremonies with his powerful growls. Owning albums like ‘The Grand Leveller’ and ‘Transcend the Rubicon’ very close to my heart, it was hard not to headbang to untimely songs that make part of the history of Death Metal!! The band was tight as ever and they were the cherry on top pf the cake to close things at the Underworld!! But.. Yes, there’s a but! That wasn’t the last concert as there was one more band to play at the Black Heart, and one which had some special meaning for me as they are from Portugal!! I’m talking about Serrabulho, the kings of Pimba Grind, that brought some humour (we need as much as we can with all the shit going around the world)!! The place was small for them as they have a bigger than life attitude, but they gave all their best to maintain alive a crowd that had been moving around since 1pm. It was fun to see all that people dancing around with them!! A happy way to end a fantastic weekend for Death Metal fans, with a little bit of everything inside the genre!! Although tired, I stayed at the Black Heart for the after party brought by Sam Loynes (from Akercocke among other things)!! The music was great, the chat as well, end up talking a lot to Bill Steer without annoying him to much (not my fault this time) and changed to Vodka Lemonade as beer was becoming hard to drink ahah!! Ines showed up, we had a couple of more drinks, helped a friend catch a Uber and then Woody’s and home to eat and sleep!!!

 

Overall, excellent festival, good bands, excellent organization, and a blast of a time!!! See you all next year!!!

Beyond the Grave Festival – The Black Heart, London – 24.11.2023

The guys from Beyond the Grave were kind enough to offer me a press pass for the weekend festival, which occurred on Friday the 24^th and Saturday the 25 of November in London, so first let me say thank you to them for that.

Last year the festival had happened in the New Cross Inn with bands like Analepsy, Avulsed, Wolfbastard, Unfathomable Ruination or Fulci, among others. This year, the festival came to North London and to two stages!!

The first day was only at the Black Heart and consisted of Deliberate Miscarriage, Rend Them Asunder and Iniquitous Savagery, which I missed due to some family obligations (sorry guys hope I can see you a next time) and a couple of more bands which I got there in time to see. First was Amputated from Bristol, which were ravaging the venue when I got there. And what a beautiful sight it was to see the Black Heart packed as hell. Not a lot of room to wiggle but enough to see some bodies flying to the Brutal/Slam Death Metal from these guys. They don’t complicate too much, they just deliver some crunchy breakdowns, heavy riffage and some possessed vocals. To finish the evening, time for Norway’s Kraanium (well I think only one of them now is from Norway as the rest come from Finland, Denmark and the UK) and their Slam Brutal Death Metal!! Not a surprise that the room was full as well to see them, and that all that sweat and energy got shared around the place, in the mosh pit and by the crowd surfers. With songs like ‘Diarrhoea Induced Gag Reflex’, ‘Cunt Pierced with Rusty Nails’ or ‘Midget Fucker’, you know what to expect from these guys: time for the axe to be wielded and chop some wood!! Not my thing but must say it was enjoyable. As the next day was going to be long, I took off just a bit after they ended their show, so I could eat something before going to bed!!!

Darkest Era/Gospelheim – The Black Heart, London – 23.11.23

Thursday night in London, so what better to do than going to the Black Heart to see a band we hadn’t watched in twelve years? Yeah, more than a decade ago we saw Darkest Era in Lisbon alongside the Russians Arkona plus Dalriada and Trollfest, in a very interesting night!!  So, of course we wanted to see them again!! 

So, me, Ines and Galas (one other Portuguese friend that joins us sometimes in our adventures) met at the Black Heart and started the night with a nice Lightbulb, a very good pale ale from Verdant Brewery. Unfortunately, when we went upstairs to the venue, we saw that it was not going to be a very crowded house. In fact, we and one other guy were the only ones in there, a bit before Gospelheim had to start. And I think maybe that affected a bit the mood, and the show from the Manchester band!! Down to a trio with Ricardo and Coco sharing vocals, the band went through their debut album, ‘Ritual & Repetition’, with some hiccups but relentlessly. Luckily more people showed up, although I wouldn’t put it above 30, while the band was charging at us with their mix of Gothic Rock and Metal, maybe on a vein close to Moonspell or one other Portuguese band, which goes by the name of Divine Lust.  My favourite track was ‘Satan Blues’, a song with a hell of a beat and an instrumental one which I didn’t catch the name. I was hoping to buy the album but when we came upstairs (with one more Lightbulb to clench our thirst) the merch and the band had disappeared!! Maybe they were working the next day, so totally understood. I hope I can catch them a next time as a quartet and see how it goes!!!

After them, and maybe with the house with 40 to 50 people, Darkest Era arrived on stage, and it was nice to see that the band was pretty much the same that we saw in Portugal (and then interviewed on issue #12)!! And they had the same energy and contagious music!! Although of course, this time, they were promoting their third and most recent album, ‘Wither on the Vibe’, released in 2022 by Candlelight Records. The new songs are as Heavy and melodic as you can expect, but also with tinges of Black and Doom Metal, bringing to mind some influences from the mighty Bathory (which can never be a bad thing) or their mates from the South, Primordial. ‘Floodlands’ is a good example, and it was one of the hits of this show. The guitars were heavy as hell, Krum vocals on the spot (and with a great interaction with the audience) and the rhythm section very tight, especially on the faster tempos. They didn’t forget the oldies and played stuff like ‘An Ancient Fire Burns’ or ‘The Morrigan (which ended the show in a very epic mood) from their debut, ‘The Last Caress of Light’ or ‘Songs of Gods and Men’ from its follower ‘Severance’. A great show from a band that deserved more audience (I know it was almost the end of the month so maybe not a lot of money floating around) and also a bit more recognizance from the Metal scene. 

Then Woody’s for a nice chicken meat & chips, home and some sleep as the next day was a working one plus the beginning of Beyond the Grave also at The Black Heart!!! But that will be for a next one!!!